KTDA Foundation to Invest 30 Million in Education Sponsorship
Four hundred and eighty students are set to benefit from a KES 30 Million education sponsorship from Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) Foundation in 2020.
Ninety of these students will be joining form one in various secondary schools having performed well in the 2019 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) while the rest are continuing students who will be proceeding to their next classes.
The selection process is competitive with the beneficiaries expected to have attained 350 marks and above in KCPE and ensures that students from across all the tea growing areas in the country get a chance to benefit.
Commenting during an event in Kericho County to release the students to their respective secondary schools, KTDA Foundation Manager, Sudi Matara, commended the students for having excelled in the exams and assured them that the Foundation would continue to fully cater for their secondary education.
“High school enrolment for students in Kenya is still hampered by the high cost with parents incurring high entry costs for their children. This for us is sad because in the process the country loses very talented children. The Foundation aims to bridge this gap to ensure that bright needy students, especially from tea growing areas are enrolled and retained in school”, said Mr Matara
He added, “We congratulate the Form One students for having performed well bearing in mind the competition and the expectations from the society. Secondary school education will ensure that the students are closer to achieving their goals in life. Access to quality education is the foundation to improving people’s lives and sustainable development.”
KTDA Foundation through the KTDA National Tea Scholarship programme has spent over 134 million Kenyan shillings in the last eight years to support needy students through secondary school education. The money has gone into paying the students’ school fees and upkeep during the four years of secondary school education.
In 2019, eighty-six per cent (86%) of students supported by KTDA Foundation who sat for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams qualified for admission into University through the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS).
“Performance by the students under the programme since its inception has been commendable hence the zeal to ensure we continue with this commitment. Every child has a right to education and the society has a collective responsibility to ensure this happens”, added Mr Matara
The KTDA National Tea Scholarship begun in 2013 to offer the opportunity for bright needy students from tea growing areas who excel in their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) to continue with their education.
The programme also ensures that the students grow to be dependable members of society through mentorship workshops every year which develop their life skills, life long learning and prepare them for life after school.
KTDA Foundation was formed in 2010 with a key objective of initiating interventions that are geared towards improving the welfare of smallholders’ tea farmers in Kenya through strategic partnerships and working towards their socio-economic transformation by implementing programmes in Environmental Sustainability, Economic Empowerment, Health and Education.